Every summer, hundreds of college players, international prospects and former NBA players compete to be signed by an NBA team for the upcoming season. Only a few per Summer League team ever make it on the roster, some never play more than a few games.
High draft picks end up with at least a couple years of being a rotation player, some of these lottery players end up playing in the NBA for many years while some wash out after two or three seasons. The great players make an all-star team. The superstars make several all-star games, and the legends end up in the Hall of Fame.
If you were to wager on which rookie players have the highest chances of making the Hall of Fame, you would use the unibet bonus code here and bet on those players selected in the top 10-12 selections.
Lowest Draftees to Make Basketball Hall of Fame
From 1970-2000, thirteen number one overall picks of the NBA Draft went on to make the Hall of Fame. By the numbers, if your franchise has the #1 selection, you have approximately a 42% chance that you’re getting a Hall of Fame player.
If being chosen high up in the NBA draft increases the chances you’ll be an NBA Hall of Famer, then a player getting drafted after the Lottery selections means they have their work cut ouf for them if they want to be an NBA legend. So we scoured the internet (which always seems to include reddit) and came up with a list of the lowest-drafted players that made the Hall Of Fame based on their NBA accomplishments.
| Selection | Draft | Player | Team | HOF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undrafted | 1996 | Ben Wallace | Detroit Pistons | 2021 |
| #122 | 1970 | Dan Issel* | Denver Nuggets | 1993 |
| #117 | 1971 | Artis Gilmore* | Chicago Bulls | 2011 |
| #60 | 1978 | Michael Cooper | Los Angeles Lakers | 2024 |
| #57 | 1999 | Manu Ginobili | San Antonio Spurs | 2022 |
| #40 | 1974 | George Gervin* | Phoenix Suns | 1996 |
| #38 | 1967 | Louie Dampier* | Cincinnati Royals | 2015 |
| #36 | 1978 | Maurice Cheeks | Philadelphia 76ers | 2018 |
| #30 | 1971 | Spencer Haywood | Buffalo Braves | 2015 |
| #29 | 1976 | Dennis Johnson | Seattle Supersonics | 2010 |
| #28 | 2001 | Tony Parker | San Antonio Spurs | 2023 |
| #27 | 1986 | Dennis Rodman | Detroit Pistons | 2011 |
| #23 | 1976 | Alex English | Denver Nuggets | 1997 |
| #22 | 1973 | George McGinnis | Philadelphia 76ers | 2017 |
The list isn’t super eye-opening, but it does include some big name scorers and contributors and probably the best rebounder in NBA history.
If a player has an asterisk (*) by their name, a little bit of context is needed. From 1967 until the mid-70’s the NBA was competing with the fledgling ABA for players. Though a smaller league, the ABA would offer big name players more money than the NBA could offer in order to sign big-name players. So during these several seasons, NBA teams knew going into the NBA draft that certain top college players would not sign with the NBA, so these franchises would strategically use a 4th or 5th or th round pick to secure any possible future rights to that player.
This list doesn’t include players that were drafted late in other leagues such as Moses Malone who was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1974 ABA Draft. This list also doesn’t include several international NBA players that were inducted into the Hall of Fame mainly because of their international impact. This includes Drazen Petrovic (60) Nikos Galis (68), Arvydas Sabonis (24), Sarunas Marciulionis (127), and Oscar Schmidt (131).
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Future Late-Selection Hall of Famers
A couple San Antonio Spurs removed their names from this list and recently went into the Hall of Fame as soon as they became eligible. Manu Ginobili (57th overall) and Tony Parker (28th) are now Hall of Famers that were chosen later in their draft classes. These two Spurs legends were locks to make the Hall when we first posted this article and now that destiny has been fulfilled. Here’s several other low-drafted players that have good-to-excellent changes to be standing at the podium in Springfield once they’re eligible.
| Pick | Draft | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| #48 | 2007 | Marc Gasol | Los Angeles Lakers |
| #41 | 2014 | Nikola Jokic | Denver Nuggets |
| #35 | 2012 | Draymond Green | Golden State Warriors |
| #30 | 2011 | Jimmy Butler | Chicago Bulls |
| #27 | 2013 | Rudy Gobert | Denver Nuggets |
| #24 | 2006 | Kyle Lowry | Memphis Grizzlies |
If the severely-underrated Jimmy Butler (30th overall) can avoid injuries and maintain his level of play, he’ll have a very strong chance at being enshrined one day. There’s no doubt that multiple MVP winner Nikola Jokic (41st overall) will 1000% be in the Hall of Fame.
An unspectacular player but a really good one, Kyle Lowry has a decent chance (85%) chance of making the Hall of Fame once he retires according to basketball-reference. I mean, if role player, never-all-star Michael Cooper can be inducted, Lowry is a lock.
Right below Lowry is Draymond Green (35th) – the heart of the Golden State Warrior’s dynasty teams has a 36% chance according to basketball-reference, but as his career progressed (especially with another championship in 2022), we think his intangibles make him a lock. Former Memphis Grizzly Marc Gasol (48th overall) has a 4.3% chance of being inducted when his career is over according to basketball-reference.
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